a sparkle of hope
by Marauder's legacy
Summary: What if you lost all of your friends and would get a chance to change your destiny? What if you got the chance to do it all over again? AUstory
1. a bitterweet surprise

Sparkle of hope

A/N:

**Welcome everybody to the first and most spectacular fanfic ever...**

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Disclaimer: We do not own any of the characters and we do not make any money with this story

**Chapter 1 – A bittersweet surprise**

„NOOOOOOO!" , Harry screamed desperately seeing Ron's dead body hitting the ground. He couldn't believe his eyes. Sinking to his knees he crawled over to Ron, shaking him.

"Wake up, Ron! Come'on! You can't do that to me, you promised everything would be alright. How shall I...?" but he interrupted by an evil laughter.

"You are so pathetic, Potter! You know that love is your greatest weakness like it was your parents'.

Tears of hate and anger rushed to Harry's green eyes but he blinked them away. Now wasn't the time to mourn his best friend. He was going to avenge him first. Slowly he rose to his feet staring at his cruel opponent with red burning hatred in his eyes.

"So what little Potter? Are you going to duel me?"

Hastily Harry grabbed his wand with a shaking hand. If this was from exhaustion or surpressed anger he could not tell. As an answer he spat at Voldemort's feet.

" I have nothing to lose Tom!"

Riddle ignored the use of his first dead muggle father's name.

"But you do have something to lose, don't you Potter? Oh, no I apologize Potter. True, I already killed all of your worthless friends."

Harry flinched inwardly at these taunting words. It was true. Since the Death Eaters had launched their attack at Hogwarts, most of the people he knew and cared were gone.

First the Weasley family, except Ron who had stood bravely at his side until his end. Hermione had been severly wounded and had been taken into the Great Hall to be treated by Mme Pomfrey.

Remus had been slaughtered by Pettigrew who had put his newly gotten silver hand to good use after all. The Dark had been very pleased indeed.

Most of Harry's classmates and especially the DA had stood by his side when the battle had begun. But now he was the only one who was left.

The shrill voice of Lord Voldemort brought him back to his senses.

"Bow to dead Harry. Prepare to meet your parents. But before you're going to see that worthless mudblood mother of yours , I'm going to have a bit of fun. CRUCIO!"

Harry's reflexes had been slowed down by the battle that had been going on for hours.

Spasms of pain jerked through Harry's body. A moan escaped his cracked lips but he refused to give any more acknowledgement of the undescribable pain he was going through. All thoughts had vanished from his head leaving only blankness and hopelessness. Harry wanted it to end but he knew that if he died he'd take Voldemort with him. Just before he thought he couldn't take it anymore the Dark Lord lifted the curse.

"It hurts, doens't it, Harry? You have two choices. You can either tell me where the headquarter of the Order of the Phoenix is and die a quick and maybe even painless death or I'll leave it up to my faithful servants to finish you off."

Harry opened his mouth to speak but only undistinguishable sounds were coming out of it.

"Pardon, me Potter? I didn't get you."

"I said." Harry said more clearly "GO TO HELL!"

Voldemort raised his wand and pointed it slowly at Harry's heart. Harry heard a frightened scream from his side but couldn't make it out.

"Avada Kedavra!"

Harry closed his eyes awaiting the impact of the deadly spell...but it never came. Instead he heard a big thump echoing through Hogwart's grounds. He opened his eyes, staring blankly at a mane of bushy brown hair.

"Hermione" he whispered shallowly. "No!" he sobbed, "Come back!"

Voldemort was looking astonished at the body of the young witch in front of him.

Harry unaware of what he was doing, rose to his feet and pointed his wand shakily at Voldemort.

"You gonna pay for this. For all of them! Bellatrix told me once that you had to mean an unforgivable curse and you know what Tom...this time I really mean it! Avada Kedavra!" With a look of surprise still etched on his unhumanly snakelike face, Voldemort's body fell heavily to the ground. Harry collapsed and let darkness overcome him.

Two months had passed since the glorious defeat of the darkest wizard ever known to wizardkind. A victory it was, but it hadn't been achieved lightly. There had been to many casualties, though people tend to forget and just got on with their lives.

There was one though who hadn't forgotten. One who still felt the heavy loss as fresh as it had been on the day he woke up from his coma.

Harry Potter, the boy who lived, the chosen one, the boy who had killed the dark lord, the boy who just wouldn't bloody die. Well, the last title was one he had added himself.

After being rewarded the title of Merlin First class and getting rid of all the stupid, incompentent and way too noisy reporters, Harry had decided to rebuild Hogwarts.

He knew that it was never going to be the same place as before, because for him Hogwarts hadn't been a simple place, not a collection of brick walls and high ceilings but a place where he had discovered true friendship for the first time in his life.

No he wasn't going to forget about Hermione and Ron. He knew that they, like so many others, had sacrificed their lives in order to save him, in order to give him a possibility to live his life.

But what kind of life was that? He had nobody to turn to. People tend to forget about him once the celebration had died down and nobody seemed to think it necessary to keep in contact with him, now his destiny was fulfilled. He wasn't of any use to them any more, as plain as that.

At the beginning he had been surrounded by a lot of people. Even though he knew that there were people who cared about his well-being he still felt alien. He didn't feel as though he could confine into them.

Harry shook his head to clean his busy mind. He was on his way to the headmistress' office, which had strangely withstood the assault on the castle untouched. Though the stone gargoyles in front of the office had been damaged in the war, they still guarded the entrance to the spiral staircase which led up to McGonagall's office.

"Victory" he said tonelessly. The gargoyles moved aside.

He made his way upstairs and knocked at the door, waiting for McGonagall's strict voice to tell him to enter. But it never came.

He opened the door cautiosly, looking around. The room was empty, except for a small magical bird perched on the golden post. It led out a melodious thrill which warmed Harry's insides instantly. He walked into the room and strode over to the animal which was watching him.

"Hey Fawkes!" he said softly, stroking him. He was interrupted by a voice he knew so well.

"Mr Potter. What brings you to my..well...this office, this sunny afternoon. Oh, I forgot my manners...care for a lemondrop?"

Harry swirled around only to find himself staring at his late headmaster's portrait.

"No thank you sir." Harry replied politely. He had never truly understood why Dumbledore favoured this particular muggle sweet.

"I heard about your glorious victory. I think congratulations are in order."

Harry's inside churned guiltily at the sound of these words.

"Leave out the "glorious" part.", he answered darkly "There's nothing glorious about causing your friends' death."  
"It wasn't your fault, Harry!" Dumbledore replied in a soft yet stern voice.

"Yeah, sure! First I killed Cedric Diggory. Then Sirius, then you, Ron and Hermione and don't even get me started on all the other people I cared about and who are now dead because of me. You told me once that love was my greatest strength, that suffering like that proves me to be still human. But I can't go on like that, Professor. I lost every single person who had meant something to me."

He sank exhaustedly into one of the fluffy chairs in the office. It took Dumbledore's portrait a moment to regain its' composure. Finally he went on in a sad tone.

"I'm sorry, my boy. I'm sorry that you had to endure all of this. You know I can't make things undone. But like you know, time is a curious thing." His eyes behind the halfmoon spectacles were glittering.

"I think I've heard that before, Professor." Harry said blankly and without any idea where that particular conversation was heading.

"You know, Harry, there are many turning points in one's life. There are decisions you have to make that will determine the outcome of not only yours but everybody's destiny."

"What are you talking about?" Harry asked with a hint of impatience in his voice. Not even in death Dumbledore couldn't help speaking in riddles.

" You see, Harry," Dumbledore's portrait went on ignoring Harry's question "take my obsession with lemon drops. If I hadn't decided at the fragile age of ten to discover the hidden preference of muggle candies, my life hadn't turned out the way it did. Lemon drops can have a big impact on your life." With these words he strolled out of his portrait.

Harry stared at the portrait in utter disbelief. He hadn't thought that it would be possible for Dumbledore to become even more crazy once he was dead.

"What the hell had he been talking about?" he muttered to himself. He needed Hermione more than ever.

When her face appeared in his mind, he quickly made to push her out of his thoughts. He couldn't bare to think about her. Harry turned his attention back on the topic at hand.

He still wasn't any wiser considering the weird speech his former headmaster had given him.

Being obsessed with a muggle sweet was one thing but to think that it could turn his whole world around was another.

Curiously he grabbed one of the sweets that Dumbledore had offered him so often in the past. He eyed it suspiciously and then without any further thinking he popped it into his mouth and while it slowly dissolved he felt the world around him starting to spin and dizziness overwhelmed him.

TBC


	2. the aftertaste of a lemon drop

A/N Thank you so much for the reviews we received already. They were great. Eveb though our exams are coming up we thought we'd post another chappy now, in order to thank you for your wonderful feedback. What about a deal? The more reviews we get, the sooner the new chapters will be online ) Have fun reading and pleeeeeaaaaase review!

Just for the record: We do not own Harry Potter, and a few lines had been taken from the first Potter Book.

Chapter 2:

**The aftertaste of a lemon drop **

When Harry came back to his senses everything around him was pitch black. Groggily he looked around and could make out the insides of an old cupboard but nothing more.

It took him a few seconds to register what he had just discovered. _A cupboard_.

Harry sat up quickly, his head bumping hard into the low ceiling. He scowled. Why was he in a cupboard. He had have enough of that during his first ten years of life, unless….

No, Harry shrugged it off, it just couldn't be.Harry searched for his glasses, in order to take a closer look at his surroundings, it was like he had thought, he was in a cupboard. The only question was how he had gotten here in the first place.

His scar throbbed and he went with his cool fingers over it. Suddenly it all came back with a start. He knew that he had been in the headmaster's office and had tried a lemon drop, that the portrait of his late headmaster had offered him. But he had no memories whatsoever after putting the candy into his mouth. The big question was what had happened to him.

He was startled from his musings when a fist began banging against a small door, not far away from him, which he had just noticed.

"UP" shrieked a familiar voice. He did a double take and his breathing increased heavily.

"UP! GET UP! NOW" This just couldn't be. There was no way, this person was who he thought she must be.

"Are you up yet?" the voice interrupted his musings once more.

"Nearly" Harry said, simply playing for more time in order to sort out his thoughts.

"Well, get a move on, I want you to look after the bacon. And don't you dare let it burn, I want everything perfect on Duddy's birthday."

Harry was too perplexed to say anything back to her. He couldn't understand what was going on. From his point of view he was a 17 year old wizard who had lost all his dear friends. Surely he couldn't be here, here at the one place that had made his childhood hell, here at the Dursleys'…

Deciding that playing along was the best thing he could do at the moment, Harry jumped and dressed himself in the too familiar, way too big clothes.

He rushed into the kitchen, busying himself with the pan. He just ignored Uncle Vernon's "Comb your hair boy". He had more important things to think about.

How could it be that he was back at the Dursleys' and by the look of himself, in the body of his ten year-old self. What kind of magic was that?

And coming to think about it, why did he know about magic in the first place?

Hagrid had been the one who had told him about it on his eleventh birthday, while giving Dudley a pig tail in the process. Harry smirked, which went unnoticed by the Dursleys because Dudley had started his tantrum about getting to few birthday presents, even though the whole room was stuffed with them. Harry simply rolled his eyes, some things just never seemed to change.

Harry grimaced, he was on his way back from the zoo, with a clearly upset Vernon Dursley in the front of the car and with his aunt, his cousin and Piers Polkins annoying the hell out of him with their ongoings about the big bad snake.

Even though Harry had known what would happen, he had thought it wisest to just let the things happen in their own pace. He wasn't sure if interfering was such a good idea.

When he was back in his cupboard, clearly annoyed by the fact that he was grounded once more, he decided that he definitely needed a plan of action. After Dumbledore's death Harry had learned to take charge of new and dangerous situation, no longer stumbling into them and being rescued by sheer luck.

He stared at the dark ceiling but no longer seeing it. If this was real, if he was really back in the body of a ten year-old, that could only mean that he had done some kind of time travelling. But not the way he had done in his third year, because there was no sign of another Harry running around.

No, this time it seemed that he had gone back in time, permanently. Harry suddenly sat back up again, his heard pounding in excitement, this also meant that all the people he loved and cared for were still alive, that no harm had come to them…yet.

But was he allowed to change the past? Harry heard a warning voice in his head, that sounded unnervingly like Hermione. "The past is not to be messed with."

Well, Dumbledore had sent him here after all and where was the point in sending him back to the past just in order to let him make all the same mistakes all over again. There was just no point.

So that meant, that he had come back to the past in order to change it, in order to make sure that he was going to defeat Voldemort. Harry couldn't help but grin a little, even though the prospect of having to face Voldemort in the future was not amusing at all. If he was to live the last 7 years of his life all over again, he was going to make sure to have some fun along the way and even more importantly, to set things right once more.

Harry had opened the door of his cupboard with a small pin he had found lying around in the cupboard. Being ten meant that he wasn't allowed to use magic yet and the last thing he wished for, was to make the ministry aware of what was going on, not yet at least.

He had just left number 4 and was currently making his way towards the house of Mrs Figg. After thinking about it carefully, Harry had decided that he needed to talk to Dumbledore as soon as possible. He was going to need his help and Harry knew that Mrs Figg was in close contact with him these days.

He checked his watch and saw that it was already drawing close to midnight. Should he really disturb her this late. Harry shrugged it off. He had more important things on his mind.

Nonetheless he felt relieved, when he saw that there was still light in Mrs Figg's house. He briskly walked towards her door and rang the doorbell rather impatiently, waiting for her to answer it.

Seconds later he was staring the annoyed face of his former babysitter.

"What do you…" her mouth fell open when she saw Harry standing there, grinning widely.

"Good evening, Mrs Figg. Would you be so kind to let me use your fireplace for a second? It would be most helpful if you could also lend me some floo powder."

While Mrs Figg was staring at him, as if he had just grown another couple of heads, he used her distractedness and pushed past her into the house.

He wasn't at all prepared though, to find himself looking at a man who was wearing an extremely shabby set of wizard's robes and even though he was quite young, having light brown hair which was flecked with grey.

It took Harry a moment to regain his composure, then he said in a falsely cheerful voice.

"Fancy meeting you here, Professor Lupin."


	3. the first encounter

**The First Encounter**

_He wasn't at all prepared though, to find himself looking at a man who was wearing an extremely shabby set of wizard's robes and even though he was quite young, having light brown hair which was flecked with grey._

_It took Harry a moment to regain his composure, then he said in a falsely cheerful voice:_

"_Fancy meeting you here, Professor Lupin."_

To say that Harry was surprised was an understatement, but in comparison with his ex…future…well his professor, he took the meeting in a very smooth way. At least he wasn't the one who was looking as if he was just facing a dragon with his mouth ajar.

It took Remus Lupin a few more moments to realize what he was doing and who he was staring at.

Harry saw a look of determine pass Lupin's face and finally he had found his voice again.

"Good evening H…" he stopped himself rather abruptly "I mean good evening. Who might you been? And who is this Professor Lupin? I am afraid you must have confused me with someone."

Now it was Harry's time at gaping and doing a poor imitation of a fish in the desert. There was just no way that Remus was lying straight into his face. That wasn't the Remus Lupin he knew and he cared for as a second godfather.

He knew that Lupin had never come to visit him when he was a child (for the first time) but Harry had put this down to his fear of his "illness". He had never thought that if they had met by chance and merely days away from his eleventh birthday, that Lupin would have been cowardly enough to tell him an outright lie.

Harry knew that he was going to talk to him soon but at first he needed to contact Dumbledore. In the meanwhile Mrs Figg had entered the sitting room as well.

She cautiously handed him a small sack which held a little amount of floo powder, she shot him a questioning glance and then, noticing Harry staring daggers at Lupin, quickly moved back to sit beside the werewolf on the couch, awaiting the things that might come.

Harry, who was shaking inwardly now but tried his best to ignore it, threw some floo powder in the fire place, stuck his head into the flame and yelled: "Hogwarts, Headmaster's office". In his back he could hear some muttering but he didn't pay any heed to it.

Even though he had done it quite a few times in the past, it was still a weird feeling having his head spin around like that and Harry closed his eyes in order to prevent feeling sick.

When his head had stopped spinning he saw right into the well-known and still untouched looking office of his headmaster.

"Professor Dumbledore?" he called out in a clear voice, hoping that Dumbledore was somewhere close by but no such luck. Instead he saw a swish of gold and suddenly Fawkes was sitting right in front of the fireplace.

"Hey Fawkes." Harry said softly. "I know you don't recognize me but my name is Harry, Harry Potter and I really need to talk to Professor Dumbledore. Could you please tell him to contact me as soon as possible. I am currently at Mrs Figg's."

Harry could have sworn he had seen Fawkes wink at him and withdrew his head from the flames. Now he just had to set things straight with Remus J. Lupin

Harry stood back up, took a deep breath and turned around to face the two adults who were giving him a questioning stare. He knew that this discussion wouldn't be a neat one and therefore addressed Mrs Figg first.

"Mrs Figg. Would you please let me have a private word with Mr Lupin." He asked her coldly. Now he knew that Dumbledore had been contacted, the fury which had awoken on Remus' first words was boiling and he knew that he would have a hard time to control his temper if his future DADA teacher decided to fain ignorance a second longer.

Mrs Figg who had obviously noticed the sudden drop of temperature in the room sent Remus an apologizing look and retreated to the safety of her kitchen.

It was Remus who spoke first and he had obviously decided to ignore the things he had already witnessed.

"Look, boy, I really don't know what…"

"Don't call me boy!" Harry pressed through gritted teeth. Now he was eleven again, his childhood memories and the abuse of the Dursley were very much alive once more and he couldn't stand being called boy by one he had always considered one of his closest friends, even more as a member of his family.

Lupin winced and remained silent. He obviously thought that it would be much safer for him to let the young boy speak first, in order to prevent himself from saying anything that would upset Harry even more.

Harry took another deep breath and spoke in a voice that clearly showed that he suppressed a lot of emotion.

"Let's make this easy, shall we? Your name is Remus Lupin. You're a werewolf and attended Hogwarts with Sirius Black, James Potter and Peter Pettigrew (his voice was full of venom when he spat out the last name) You called yourself the Marauders. You were also part of the first order of the Phoenix. Your friends became unregistered Animagi in order to help you and to keep you from injuring yourself on full moons." He didn't dare to mention any more details about Sirius or Pettigrew, he had to make the man in front of him believe him first.

Remus Lupin had sat back down, not trusting his legs to carry him anymore. He knew of course that this boy in front of him was Harry Potter, son of one of his best friends and he also knew that all the information that Harry had just told him was correct.

But hadn't Dumbledore said that the boy knew nothing of the other, of his own world. Maybe he had guessed?

"Harry, right? I really don't know what you're talking about…I've never seen you…"

That was most definitely the most stupid thing Remus Lupin had ever said in his life.

"HOW DARE YOU LIE ME IN THE FACE LIKE THAT! YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHO I AM AND YOU KNOW THAT I AM TELLING THE TRUTH. I HAVEN'T SEEN YOU IN THE LAST TEN YEARS BUT WHOSE FAULT IS THAT? I LIVED IN A CUPBOARD LUPIN, A CUPBOARD. AND WHEN I MEET ONE OF MY DAD'S BEST FRIENDS YOU DARE TO TELL ME THAT YOU DON'T KNOW ME!

Harry screamed everything at him that had been pestering him. He didn't even notice the tears streaming down his face. How could he do that to him?

"Why do you do this to me Moony?" Harry whispered, talking more to himself than to the man who was still sitting opposite him.

Remus had of course caught the muttering with his excellent werewolf hearing and if the screamed words hadn't fully convinced him, these last few words, which held more pain than he had ever thought words could, did.

He jumped to his feet. "Harry look, just let me explain."

But in this instant the two were interrupted by the sound of someone clearing his throat.

"Excuse me gentlemen. I just received notice that young Mr Potter needs to talk to me urgently." In the flames of Mrs Figg's fireplace sat the head of the only wizard that Voldemort had ever feared.

TBC...


	4. Painful memories

_A/N: Hello everybody! We're finally done with our exams, at least more or less and that means more frequent updates as long as we get enough reviews. Please do review! You really make our day!_

_We do not own Harry Potter nor do we seek do make any money with this story. _

**Chapter 4 – Painful memories**

"_Excuse me gentlemen. I just received notice that young Mr Potter needs to talk to me urgently." In the flames of Mrs Figg's fireplace sat the head of the only wizard that Voldemort had ever feared._

Harry quickly wiped his eyes on his sleeve. Now, really wasn't the time to fall apart like this. He sent Lupin the dirtiest look he could muster and got down on his knees in order to talk to Dumbledore.

"Hello Professor Dumbledore" he greeted quietly. "I know you wonder, what this is all about. I know that I didn't get my Hogwarts letter yet, neither did I get to meet the gameskeeper. Therefore you must be wondering why I already know so much." He said all this in a quick succession, willing for Dumbledore to believe him.

He saw a frown on the headmaster's face and the twinkle in his eyes was obviously dimmed.

This definitely wasn't a good sign.

"Now, before you jump to any conclusion" Harry rambled on trying to ignore the thoughts of what might happen to him if his headmaster didn't believe him. He would either end up in St Mungos, because they thought he was mad, or he would be thrown into Azkaban, because they thought him to be a death eater in disguise…

"I am most definitely not a spy, if that's what you think. It's hard to explain, but it might be much easier just to show you!"

"Show me?" Dumbledore raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, show you!" Harry repeated, thanking Merlin for this sudden swish of inspiration. Even though he had despised Occlumency lessons with Snape in fifth year (he had mastered it later on at any rate) and even though he savoured his privacy above nearly all other things, except friendship and love of course, he was willing to make this step. If this was the only way to ensure Dumbledore of his true intentions there was just no other way.

"I know that you are a very skilled Legilimence, professor. I can show you my memories and after seeing them you will understand where I got all my information from. And maybe you could even persuade him" he pointed at Lupin looking thoroughly annoyed "that I am who I say I am."

Remus made a move to protest, he had already accepted that this was Harry Potter in front of him, but was cut short my Dumbledore's request:

"Please, step through, I think it will be more safe to do this in my office, after all you already seem to know your way around."

Harry could see that the twinkle in Dumbledore's eyes had won some of their old intensity back and therefore feeling a little braver than before, took a deep breath and after Dumbledore had withdrawn his head from Mrs Figgs fireplace, took a handful of floo powder and made his way to the so familiar office.

He landed on his backside. "Right" he mused with a frown and a wince. His travelling techniques had obviously not improved.

"Now Mr Potter" Dumbeldore addressed him in a quiet yet stern voice. "You do seem to know about a lot of things you oughtn't. And I am not entirely sure what to make of it."

Harry braced himself. "It is like I said, sir. You're welcome to take a peak into my head, then maybe you'll understand the urgency of my situation. Dumbledore looked at him, clearly uncertain what to make of the young boy's words.

"I beg you sir." Harry continued. "It will be much easier than explaining everything to you."

Dumbledore send him a calculating look.

"Well Mr Potter. If you know as much as I think you do, you will clearly remember that memories can be altered. Therefore, I would very much like you to drink Veritaserum before I take a look at your thoughts."

Harry gritted his teeth. He didn't fancy the prospect of not being in any control of his thoughts and memories when Dumbledore "took a peak" but he wasn't the one to argue right now. He felt lucky that Dumbledore hadn't blasted him through the next wall, thinking him an impostor.

"Alright, alright" Harry replied grudgingly. After all he wanted this to succeed and for this he needed Dumbledore on his site. With another small sigh escaping his lips, he braced himself and stepped through the fire.

Harry landed on his backside in the so familiar office; he jumped up hastily, blushing slightly. He heard some chuckling and turned around to face Phineas Nigellus sniggering at him. Harry scowled at him. He wasn't very fond of this particular portrait and if Remus remained as stubborn as he had until now, Harry thought that Nigellus' portrait could be put to some good use at last.

Nigellus who must have noticed Harry's murdering glare, retreated to the safety of his other portrait.

At a soft caugh Harry turned around to face Dumbledore again.

"Well Mr Potter, if that's indeed who you are, I will just arrange for some Veritaserum brought up to this office."

A bad sensation was rising in Harry's chest. Since Veritareserum was one of the most complicated and most dangerous potions ever brewed, Harry was quite sure of who would be arriving in this office a short while later.

He groaned, there was just no way of him seeing Snape and having him in jinxing distant and do nothing about it. Well he could try to persuade Dumbledore…

"Ahh Sir" Harry said hastily while Dumbledore was about to chuck some more floo powder in the fireplace.

"Would there be the slightest chance of not ordering your potions professor up here? I'm sure he's very busy and all…"

Dumbledore's face remained emotionless though Harry thought he could see a shadow of curiosity flashing over Dumbledore's features.

"I am afraid, Mr Potter that I do need the assistance of Severus up here." His voice sounded final….well so much of persuading him. At least Snape wasn't going to linger, Harry knew that much for sure. Snape despised him and if he had ever learned anything about his slimy professor was that he would do anything to spend as little time in a Potter's company as possible. This thought slightly cheered him up.

He watched his headmaster moving towards the fireplace once more but before Dumbledore could complete his call for the potions' master there was a rumble in the fireplace and Remus Lupin stepped out of it.

Harry groaned again. So much for his wish of privacy. The last of all people he wanted to be around right now was Lupin, because he felt so many emotions by merely looking at him that he was sure he was going to explode…or maybe let him explode, another Marge accident wasn't too unlikely.

Harry quickly adverted his gaze from Lupin and looked back at Dumbledore who had seemed to finally have completed his call and now sat behind his big mahagony table. He offered Remus a seat and Remus obeyed.

"Look Harry" Remus clearly was struggling for words now, but when Harry looked at him he could still see a trace of distrust and doubt in the werewolf's eyes even though he seemed to be trying to belive him."

"Don't Remus!" Harry said quietly. "I know you have no real reason to believe me…yet." He turned towards Dumbeldore. "Professor, is there any chance of having Remus see the same things you'll see, it will rid me of explaining everything twice"

"And make him believe me" he added silently to himself.

"I am not sure if you know what that would mean, Mr Potter? Being under the influence of Veritaserum and having a skilled legilimence breaking into one's head is no laughing matter as it is, it is painful, but bringing someone along, well the emotional physical strain will be much harder to endure." Dumbledore said quietly.

Harry looked at Remus. In the past…well in his past he had been through so much with the man, he had came to see him as a second godfather and if he ever wanted a happier life Remus Lupin had to be part of it."

"Yes I want it!" Harry replied meeting Dumbledore's eyes. "He has to see it." Remus was on the edge of speaking when there was a sharp knock on the door.

"Here we go!" Harry thought darkly. "Let the fun begin!"

"Come in!" Dumbledore called and the door was pushed open roughly. "I hope you realize Albus that my potions do not seem to brew themsel….Snape had strolled into the room and stopped dead in his tracks when he spotted Lupin and Harry.

Harry stared at his sneakers, he just couldn't up with this man right now, there would be time for that later.

Even though Harry didn't look at his potions professor he could hear the smirk on his face when he talked once more.

"Well, well, well…the werewolf. Last I saw you, you crawled into some hole mourning the loss of your so called friends. I had just hoped that you were gone for good, thought that the ministry had finally passed a law allowing the killing of dangerous half…"

"That's enough Severus" Dumbledore interrupted sternly. "I thank you very much for the potion and offer my apologies once more for the inconvenience I have brought upon you by calling at such a late hour. Have a good night"

The dismissal couldn't have been any clearer and with one last withering look Snape had swepped out of the office.

Harry was breathing hard, having difficulty to believe that Snape had just said all these things in front of Dumbledore and all Dumbledore had done was apologizing for being inconvenient to him. He gritted his teeth. "Let's get this over with."

Dumbledore was handling a little flask of clear liquid which Harry almost at once recognized as Veritaserum.

"Would you please sit down over here Mr Potter?" Dumbledore pointed at a big fluffy armchair. He sat down.

"Remus please prepare yourself. It will be mere seconds after Mr Potter has taken the potion that we'll enter his memories." Lupin just nodded, unsure of what to say.

Dumbledore handed Harry the flask. Harry gulped, took one last lingering look at Lupin and gulped down the liquid.

His whole body went limb and his mind was floating in a dreamy like state, concerningly similar to the one, that the Imperius curse caused.

He suddenly heard Dumbeldore's voice, soft and gentle.

"Who are you?"

Harry had the feeling that he wanted nothing more on the world than to answer that question truthfully.

"I am Harry James Potter."

Obviously satisfied with this answer, Dumbledore linked hands with Lupin and than cried "Legillimence"

Pain erupted in Harry's and the floaty feeling was gone. Instead he could feel Dumbledore and Remus probing his thoughts for interesting information.

"BOY! HOW DARE YOU STEALING FOOD FROM THE FRIDGE!" Aunt Petunia shrieked.

There was a small three year old bespectacled boy with messy black hair standing in front of her.

"I am sorry a-a-aunt p-p-petunia." The little boy sobbed. "I w-was hungry."

"Wait till Vernon hears of this. Go to your cupboard! Now! There won't be any food for you for a week. Leave my eyesight now!"

"Alright!" This was exactly why, Harry had been resistant to take the truth potion. It was these kind of memories he had kept locked somewhere deep deep down in his unconscious mind. He didn't need to relive them all over again, but Harry knew that Dumbledore wasn't going to stop until he was satis-

"OUCH!" The two men seemed to work themselves deeper into Harry's memory now.

He didn't mind reviewing scenes like the cave troll again though his heard did hurt when he saw Hermione and Ron well and alive.

When he saw some memories of the chamber of secret incident though he became more aware of the pain he was in.

"What was it with people and sad memories anyhow…why couldn't they just."

He screamed out loud, when he felt Dumbledore pushing against one of his strongest mind barriers.

"Not this one!" Harry pleaded, but knowing that Dumbledore wouldn't stop anyhow. "Please not this one."

Only one pair was still battling, apparently unaware of the new arrival. Harry saw Sirius duck Bellatrix's jet of red light: he was laughing at her.

"Come on, you can do better than that." He yelled, his voice echoing around the cavernous room. The second jet of light hit him squarely in the chest. The laughter had not quite died from his face, but his eyes widened in shock.

It seemed to take Sirius an age to fall: his body curved in a graceful arc as he sank backwards through the ragged veil hanging from the arch.

Harry was doubling over now. His physical pain was nothing against the emotional pain he was feeling right now, he felt the loss over his godfather so fresh as if he had been just watching in the department of mysteries.

He couldn't focus on any clear thoughts anymore, while other memories flashed by.

HE IS NOT DEAD!

Bow to dead Harry.

The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches…born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies….

THEN I DON'T WANT TO BE HUMAN!

The images flew by faster and faster. He saw the last battle happening in front of his inner eye once more, all of his friends dead, he himself failing to protect his friends and family. Remus dying, Ron dying, Hermione throwing herself in front of him…

He couldn't take the intense pain any more and blacked out.

He slowly came back to his senses, hearing a familiar voice talking to him.

"Harry! Harry! Wake up!" he felt something cold and wet on his face.

He moaned. Everything was hurting and when he tried to open his eyes, the light hurt his soar eyes.

One of his companions had obviously noticed because they dimmed the light instantly.

"Harry! Please! Talk to me!"

It took Harry a huge effort to remember who this voice belonged to. His head pounded as if a wild herd of hyppogriffs had just ran over it.

He felt himself being lifted up from the ground and being placed on a soft sofa. The movement of his head caused him immense pain, he moaned again.

"Harry please!" he finally gave in and it took him nearly all his strength to finally pry his eyes open.

He could see Lupin over him, dabbing his face with a wet cloths but apart from that he could feel tears spilling out of his eyes. The memories that he just seen again, kept flashing through his mind.

"Here Harry drink this, it will make you feel better." Harry didn't protest even though he recognized the Dreamless Sleep Potion in an instant from its original smell.

He swallowed and knew no more.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N Here it is: The fifth chapter of "A sparkle of hope". We hope you will enjoy reading it as much as we did enjoy writing it. Please do review, after all we are writing this story for you guys.

Sadly enough we do not own Harry Potter.

Chapter 5 – Revelations

His head was killing him. Harry couldn't believe he had actually taken the dreamless sleep potion from them.

"It will make you feel better"

Right! The statement "it will worsen your head-ache immensely, so that you will feel as if a herd of hippogriffs had just walked over you", would have been much more truthfully but Harry knew that Dumbledore and Lupin had needed this time-out in order to decide what was going to happen to him in the future.

Even though his head was still throbbing Harry decided that now was absolutely no time for lying around idly, he needed to clear up things with the two adult wizards…

He quickly sat up in bed and realized at once that this had been a very foolish thing to do indeed.

"Steady there Harry. Let me grab your glasses for you." Harry recognized Remus' voice and fell back into his pillows and silently accepted his glasses from him. He was uncomfortable. He had absolutely no idea how to act round him.

"Well Harry," Remus began. "I think I must thank you at first for letting me see what you've seen."

Harry gave a barely receivable nod.

"I know that this must all be very hard on you and confusing…"

"Here it comes at last," Harry thought grimly. This talk was bound to happen sometimes soon.

"Look Professor…"

"Harry I know that I will be your professor in the future, but I am not yet. Please do call me Remus…"

"Right, Remus. I know you want to have this big talk about my feelings and discussing what you have just witnessed and talk about my screwed up life…" Harry noticed that his tone of voice was becoming increasingly sharper "…but I really don't want your pity. I don't need it. I have lived the last seventeen years just fine, but what I do need is yours and Professor Dumbledore's help in order to set things straight."

Remus sighed. He had just expected this.

Flashback.

Remus Lupin and Albus Dumbledore were utterly shocked from the scenes they had just witnessed.

"Have you known about this Albus?" Remus asked the question that had been tormenting him ever since he had set foot in Harry's memories.

Albus Dumbledore shook his head and sighed.

"I didn't know about it Remus. Having Harry here and with all this terrible memories was something I could never have expected and could never have been prepared for. It seems that he had to endure things which most adult wizards have never witnessed during their whole life.

Remus nodded. How could he have abandon Harry? Why had he left Harry growing up with the Dursleys, why had he, Remus, never made any move to contact Harry before his eleventh birthday and help him carry the burden he was obviously carrying, why wouldn't he be of more help in Harry's future?"

"Don't blame yourself Remus." Lupin looked up to see Dumbledore watching him intently. "You couldn't have done anything. I on the other hand," he sighed, "was responsible for Harry's well-being. I made the terrible mistake of thinking that merely keeping him alive was enough but as we had seen it isn't. It could never be enough. This child needs a family."

It took Remus another moment to register what his old headmaster had just said.

"A family Albus? You don't mean…"

Yes I do Remus, but not only you. From what I understood there is another wizard out there who should play an important part in Harry's life and if we want to help Harry deal with his past and our future, we will need his help. Harry needs his help."

Remus stared at him in disbelief…there could be just one person the ancient wizard could be talking about and that wizard had been dead for Remus for the past nine years. But he had also witnessed Harry's memories and therefore he knew that there was more to his old friend than met the eye.

End of Flashback

Remus shook his head in order to clean his head and looked at Harry.

"Harry, it's not because of pity that I am standing here, offering you my help but because of who your parents were and who you are. I am terribly sorry for what had happened earlier, but you caught me completely by surprise. It wasn't right for me to lie to you, I see that now, but believe me that Albus and I will do anything to help you fulfilling your destiny.

Harry scrutinized the man. It seemed as if he was really meaning what he said- he gave Lupin a small nod in order to indicate that he had understood and agreed. His resentful feelings hadn't vanished but he had decided that he would give Lupin another chance-

"Great," Remus replied enthusiastically and Harry merely raised an eyebrow at his cheerfulness. It seemed that the man really was glad about the fact that they had cleaned it all up.

"So Harry, let's try this again. Shall we?" he asked with a small glimmer in his eyes.

"Hello! I'm Remus Lupin. Pleasure to meet you." He offered his hand to Harry who after another calculating look at Lupin shook it.

"Nice to meet you. My name is Harry, Harry Potter." Both of their faces split in an identical grin.

When Dumbledore returned, the sight that awaited him brought a smile to his face. Obviously Harry and Remus had talked and even though the ancient headmaster doubted that they had gotten rid of all of their differences they had obviously reconciled, at least partly.

Harry was lying in bed, his breathing calm and even, fast asleep. Remus was sitting in a chair right beside his bed, not noticing his surroundings, only watching the smallish sleeping boy in front of him.

Dumbledore silently made his exit, there were things he needed to set straight, for both of their sakes.

The headmaster was now sitting in front of the minister of magic, Cornelius Fudge, who was spluttering like a fish on dry land.

"Dumbledore, there must be a mistake. Sirius Black could never be innocent. There were eye-witnesses, who…"

"…were tricked Cornelius." Dumbledore said in a grave voice. "I assure you that what I say is correct, otherwise I wouldn't sit here wasting your and my precious time. Have you done as I bade you?"

Fudge gave him a foul look.

"Indeed I have. The prisoner is being escorted here as we speak. And here…" he held up a small flask of a clear liquid is the Veritaserum you asked for.

"Excellent."

At this exact moment the door opened and two aurors led in a man with chains. He had long unhealthy black hair and was quite haggardly looking. Dumbledore looked at him sadly, hardly anyone would recognize, the once handsome marauder Sirius Black.

He was startled however when Black met his gaze with a calculating look, obviously the Dementors' effect on him hadn't been as bad as Dumbledore had feared, he wouldn't have known how to explain to Harry Potter that his godfather had gone insane.

Black gave Dumbledore a nod. "Dumbledore."

"Sirius." Dumbledore nodded back.

"Now, we are here to listen to your story again, Black." Fudge said sharply. "On the evidence of Albus Dumbledore."

"Again?" Sirius gave an ironic laugh which clearly showed that he wasn't amused at all.

"I must have missed the first time."

Dumbledore gave him a sharp glance. "Don't Sirius! This is more important than your hurt pride, it has to do with Harry."

This shut Sirius up.

When Dumbledore handed him the Veritaserum he took it without s much as a falter.

"Now" Fudge said sounding as if questioning Sirius Black was the last thing on earth he wanted to do right now. "State your name."

"My name is Sirius Orion Black."

"Have you been the secret keeper of the Potters?"

"No I haven't. Lily, James and I decided that we would make Peter secret keeper in order to fool Voldemort."

Fudge gave a whimper that sounded as if someone had just kicked him into the wrong body parts, so Dumbledore took over the interrogation.

"What happened on the Halloween night the Potters were murdered?"

"I went to check up on Peter, as I always did every two days since we had made him secret keeper. When I entered his flat, I didn't find any sign of a struggle. I then flew my motorbike to Godrics Hollow where I found the house in ruins and" Sirius voice was caught in his throat, the Veritaserum Fudge had given him had been one that allowed emotions to show. This way the interrogator could judge more easily if the one they questioned was actually telling the truth, truth potion or not.

"and I found James and Lily dead. I thought that Harry was gone to but suddenly I heard a baby crying and I found him under the upturned cot." Tears were streaming down Sirius' face at that point.

Neither Fudge nor Dumbeldore dared to interrupt him.

"A short while later Hagrid arrived, claiming that Professor Dumbledore had sent him in order to retrieve Harry, I argued with him but he insisted, so I gave Harry to him and offered him to take my motorcycle because I wouldn't need it anymore. I went to look for Peter in order to revenge my best friend and his family. In the end I cornered him in the street and then something happened that had never happened before." Sirius gave a bitter laugh.

"Pettigrew outsmarted me. He screamed so that every muggle around us could hear him, how I could have betrayed James and Lily, then he cut off his finger, blew up the street with the wand behind his back and transformed."  
Sirius couldn't speak anymore, silent tears were continuing to roll down his face.

"Transform?" Fudge shot Dumbledore a questioning glance.

"Peter Pettigrew is an unregistered animagus" Dumbledore explained. "And Sirius story proves…"

"…that he is indeed innocent." Fudge finished the sentence tonelessly.


	6. Reunifications

A/N Hello everybody.

Since we are getting more reviews from you guys, we are also updating faster. Sorry if this chappy is really mushy, but we thought that the story needed this Harry-Sirius bonding. Don't worry, they are still getting closer during the story, Remus and Harry as well, but we thought that we needed to start from somewhere and it won't be all happy either. Harry has a lot of issues to work through and he'll need both of the marauders' help. You don't live through all the things Harry had and then walk out of there unscathed. So there's still a lot more in store for him. It is pretty hard to write a ten year-old with the memories of a teenager/nearly adult but as the story progresses Harry will have to learn how to be a child again.

Please do review, cause you guys are making our day.

We thank:

Fk306 animelover and gaul1 for their reviews on the fifth chapter.

Oh and Sirius and Remus just share a brotherly friendship, whereas Harry regards Sirius as a mixture of father, godfather, brother and friend. Sirius loves Harry like a son. We just though we'd make this clear right from the beginning.

Enjoy and remember: Nothing is our own!

Chapter 6 – Reunifications

When Dumbledore and Sirius returned to Hogwarts a few hours later, neither of them spoke. It seemed that Sirius was drinking in every detail of his surroundings, now that he had finally escaped Azkaban.

Fudge in the meanwhile, had made orders to pay Sirius Black a three million galleons worth compensation and offered him the position as head of auror department. Sirius though had declined and told him coldly that he didn't want anything else to do with the ministry anymore. He just ordered Fudge to contact him once Pettigrew had been caught and Fudge had hastily agreed.

Now as the headmaster and his former pupil were striding up the stairs to the big oak entrance door Dumbledore broke the silence.

"Sirius, there's something you should know about Harry." Sirius stopped dead in his tracks and his face went pale.

"Did anything happen to him Albus? Is he alright?"

"Something did happen indeed Sirius and we're not sure if he's alright. He's currently staying at the hospital wing." Dumbledore explained calmly.

"But his birthday isn't until in a few weeks." Sirius said dumfounded. "What is he doing at Hogwarts already? And why is he at the hospital wing?"

"That was what I wanted to talk to you about. You see Harry arrived here yesterday, knowing everything about our world, his parents, you and me."

Sirius looked at him questioningly.

"How can that be a bad thing? He grew up with Remus, so he should know all about his world."

"No Sirius." Dumbledore said gravely. "You don't understand. He didn't grow up with Remus…he was sent to live with the Dursley…actually I sent him to live there."

"You!" spluttered Sirius, not trusting his own ears. "You sent him to live with muggles who despised Lily and James, only because they were magical! Dumbledore!"

"I know now Sirius, that I made a very great mistake. I thought that maybe the fact that he was Lily's son and therefore family would be enough for Petunia to get over her grudge. However I was mistaken."

Sirius couldn't keep his calm any longer.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU WERE MISTAKEN! IT'S HARRY WE'RE TALKING ABOUT! ALBUS FOR MERLIN'S SAKE! YOU HAVE TO STOP TRYING TO FIND SOMETHING GOOD IN EVERYONE!"

"If I had done this Sirius, you would have been given the dementor's kiss years ago." Dumbledore said sharply.

It took Sirius a few moments to get over what he had just said.

"So what are you telling me Albus?" he asked through gritted teeth. "Did they mistreat him?"

Dumbledore bowed his head.

"Yes they did but that's not all. Like I said, Harry appeared at Mrs Figg's with much more information, than he originally should have had, he had… well he still has the memories of a seventeen year old boy…a seventeen year-old I might add, who had destroyed Voldemort for good in the end but has lost everything in the action.

Sirius was shocked. Of all the things Dumbledore could have told him that was something he had definitely not expected.

"It is my belief." Dumbledore went on, obviously sensing that Sirius wasn't about to speak anytime soon, "that my future self has sent him back in order to give him a second chance. From the memories I have witnessed, Harry was a broken man after defeating Voldemort, without anything to go on for. He simply had nothing left."

"How do you know all this?" Sirius asked weakly.

"Legilimence. With Harry's approval, I took a peak inside his head while he was under the influence of Veritaserum. That's also the reason why he is in the hospital wing right now. You know Sirius, that people under the influence of the truth potion can't block out any of their thoughts and can be forced to witness even their worst memories all over again."

Sirius shot him a filthy look but before he could interrupt Dumbledore continued.

"I didn't know at this time what kind of horrors, young Harry had already faced in his past, otherwise I wouldn't have given him the potion. Remus is sitting with him right now, but I think he will be out of the hospital wing by tomorrow. He refused to talk to Remus about all the things that had happened to him though. I think the only person who has a chance to get him to open up will be you Sirius."

Sirius remained a blank expression at this statement, not being able to decide if this was a good or bad thing.

"He might have the memories of a seventeen year-old Sirius" Dumbledore pressed on. "But he is still a child and he needs to start acting like one. As his godfather I would like to ask you if you would take it upon you to care for him. Remus would be delighted to assist you."

Sirius couldn't help but smile. "Where do I sign?"

Harry was trashing in his bed, reliving the happenings at the department of mysteries.

_Only one pair was still battling, apparently unaware of the new arrival. Harry saw Sirius duck Bellatrix's jet of red light; he was laughing at her. _

"_Come on, you can do better than that!" he yelled, his voice echoing around the cavernous room. _

_The second jet of light hit him squarely on the chest._

_The laughter had not quite died from his face, but his eyes widened in shock. It seemed to take Sirius an age to fall: his body curved in a graceful arc as he sank backwards through the ragged veil hanging from the arch. _

_Harry saw the look of mingled fear and surprise on his godfather's wasted, once-handsome face as he fell through the ancient doorway and disappeared behind the veil, which fluttered for a moment aas though in a high wind, then fell back into the place._

"SIRIUS!" Harry yelled. "COME BACK! SIRIUS!"

Remus was shaking Harry, but the boy would not wake.

"Harry wake up! Harry!"

Nothing, Harry was still trashing in his bed, yelling for his godfather on the top of his lungs.

Suddenly the door flew open and Sirius Black came running inside with Dumbledore on his heels.

"What's the matter Moony? What happened?" Sirius asked in a panicked voice as he knelt down beside Harry's bed.

It took Remus a few seconds to realize who had just entered the room. The use of his old and beloved nickname brought a rush of warmth to his insides, but he ignored it, Harry was more important right now.

"He fell asleep and seems to be having a nightmare, I just can't seem to wake him up."

Sirius focused his attention on his godson. He was groaning now and tears were streaming down his face.

"HE IS NOT GONE! SIRIUS!"

"I am here kiddo. Come on pup, wake up, please!" Sirius' begging voice seemed to achieve what Remus had not managed to do. Harry's groaning and screaming stopped and he opened his eyes, blinking around disoriented

"S-Sirius?" Harry asked shakily, not willing to belief his eyes.

Even though he had known that Sirius was still alive, when he woke up as his ten year-old self the day before.

"Yes kiddo, I'm here!" Sirius replied, opening his arms waiting for Harry to hug him but to his confusion, Harry backed away from him.

"You're not real. You can't be. I just saw you die…" Sirius shot Remus a questioning look, hadn't Dumbledore just told him that Harry was aware of the ongoings, even more that he himself had explained them to the headmaster and his best friend.

"You already left me once." Harry said quietly, more to himself but Sirius caught his mutterings. It suddenly struck him. Harry did know what was going on, he was just afraid to accept it, scared to let someone in his heart again after he had lost all of his loved once.

"Harry!" Sirius said gently. "I'm here and I'm not going to leave you…ever. Thanks to you I was released from Azkaban and I am going to stay…here…with you!"

"You died because of me" Harry sobbed. "Because I was idiotic enough to fall for Voldemort's trick. Only because I didn't bother to practice Occlumency. It was all my fault!" He turned away, still sobbing.

"Harry look at me." Sirius demanded concernedly. "I am here, I didn't die. And even if I had, it would never ever be your fault. Harry, pup, I love you."

These little words, seemed to destroy all the self restraint Harry still had and he threw himself into his godfather's arms, clinging to him as if he never wanted to let go again.

"I am so sorry Sirius!" he cried.

"There's nothing you should be sorry about Harry." Sirius croaked and tears were now obstructing his view as well. "It is me who should be the one apologizing, I shouldn't have landed myself in Azkaban at a time you needed me most. But this will never happen again Harry, from now on I will look after you, I promise."

Harry nodded into Sirius shoulder, not letting go of him for a moment.

When Harry had finally fallen back asleep Sirius and Remus went out of the hospital wing to have a quiet word.

At first they both didn't know what to say, both staring at their feet embarrassedly. Then Remus suddenly launched forward and drew Sirius in a strong brotherly hug.

"It's so good to have you back Padfoot!" Remus said quietly, not trusting his voice.

"It's good to be back Moony!" Sirius said and Remus released him.

They looked at each other and couldn't help but laugh.  
"You know if I keep that up" Sirius said jokingly "I could pass as Moaning Myrtle's boyfriend."

Remus chuckled. "You know, she always had a crush on you."

Sirius hit him playfully on the arm. "Shut up Moony" he said affectionately but then suddenly became all serious again (no pun intended). "Tell me what happened to you in the last few years…"

The two newly reunited marauders spend half of the night talking quietly together, sitting at Harry's bedside and falling asleep in the early hours of the morning.

When Harry awoke in the morning, it took him a few moments to realize where he was and what had happened.

He felt embarrassed for falling apart like this in front of Sirius…Hang on… Sirius was alive again!

He snatched his glasses from the nightstand and put them on, he had to smile when he saw his godfather sitting in one of the chairs in front of his bed, Remus Lupin right beside him. They must have fallen asleep sitting there, watching over him.

This thought brought a smile to his face.

Sirius' death had hit Harry harder than anyone could have expected and realized. He had pulled himself together in his sixth year, pushing the memory of Sirius' death as far from him as possible, with so much happening at Hogwarts this hadn't even been too hard. Than after Dumbledore's death the whole burden of the prophecy had been lasting on his shoulders so he had done his best not to fall apart in front of the others, people who knew that their lives depended on him.

Hermione and Ron of course were not fooled this easily and the trio did have a very long talk before going off on the hunt for the Horcruxes.

Splitting up with Ginny had been very hard on Harry and he knew he couldn't have lived on, if this had meant that Ron had ended their friendship. Surprisingly he had been very understanding of this matter and told Harry in no uncertain terms that he didn't care what had happened between his sister and Harry as long as Harry didn't hurt her deliberately and he knew that Harry would never do this.

When his life had finally began to look up again, he had lost everything in the final battle and even though he had killed Voldemort, he felt like he had lost, felt as if he had let everyone he cared for down.

After having to be strong for so long it just felt brilliant to have someone look out for you. Some of the guilt he had been feeling constantly since Sirius death had been lifted and right now he couldn't think of any other place in the world he'd rather be at the moment.

He heard Sirius moving.

"Good morning kiddo. Had a good sleep?" Sirius was smiling at him.

"Yeah, never slept better." In a somewhat embarrassed voice he added. "Look Sirius about last night, I…"

"Don't worry, kiddo. It's ok really. You had every right to be upset." Sirius said earnestly. "Now about your living arrangements..."

A glimmer of hope started to sparkle in Harry's eyes…was Sirius really saying what he thought he was…?

"Are you prepared to move in with two of the worst cooks of the country?" Sirius asked cheekily.

"Are you proposing what I think you are proposing?"

"If you think that I am proposing that you're going to move in with two of the infamous marauders and are going to be spoiled rotten by us, than yes, that's what I am saying."

Harry just hugged him in return.


End file.
